This morning, part of our team continued to perform the daunting task of moving huge boulders to the site of the water project. Another team began planting seeds for the coffee crop. The people of Chadirac will sell their coffee yield to Land of a Thousand Hills which will have a huge economic impact on the community. The only problem is, the yield is not very large.  But it is a start. And the water project, funded by our Christmas Eve offering at Stones, will play a major role in facilitating this very “micro-industry.”

Jeff and Cathi Hubbard and I met with the Haitian pastors for a second straight day. I taught from 1 Peter 5 on How to Shepherd Like Jesus. I cannot put into words just how fruitful our time together was. We talked about the character and role of a pastor. I encouraged them to share their own personal struggles as pastors and church leaders. They were so eager and open. And again, with the vast differences in our cultures and especially between their churches and  churches in America, the pressures and the problems are really the same. I was utterly amazed.

The entire team spent the rest of the day teaching Bible stories, singing songs and leading activities for about 150 kids of all ages. Duaine Francis brought an American football and began teaching the kids how to throw it. You should have seen their eyes. These kids have absolutely nothing. They don’t even have a flat field to play soccer because they live in the mountains. Imagine it. These activities were the first group games they have ever experienced as kids.

We moved a bunch of rocks. We taught Bible stories. We planted some coffee beans. We even trained their pastors.

But our biggest accomplishment was telling them how much God loved them with our smiles.

And they got the message.

We arrived up on the mountain at 10am. Upon arrival, we  split into three groups. Dwaine Francis, Andrew Klinger, Gordon Sutton, Tim Sutton and Jeff Hubbard began working on the water project. Their job was to move a couple of tons(estimate) of rocks up the mountain to the spring. The rocks will be used as a retaining wall for the first cistern which will collect the water from the spring. You would have been very proud of our guys…they really worked hard. But you would have been amazed at the sight of a woman from Chadirac literally carrying a huge boulder on her head while carrying two other huge rocks in her hands.  You will see pictures of this later. It was very impressive to say the least.

Mandi Klinger, Deb Workman, Linda Gallman helped some of the ladies from the community prepare lunch. Our gals did a great job even though they were not as fast as the ladies from Chadirac at peeling carrots, and cutting shallots, beets, tomatoes, lettuce. And yes, this is all “Organic.” The team could not believe just how resourceful and skilled these ladies were at preparing food. There is just not a lot of it.

While all of this was going on, Cathi Hubbard, Kristi Bennett and I had the privilege of meeting with 25 church leaders from churches in Chadirac. I shared with them that Stones Crossing Church has made a commitment to the community of Chadirac as well as to the churches. They were overwhelmed with gratitude that we would travel such a great distance to come. They are even more excited about where they see their community going in the future because of our partnership with them. They explained to me that their churches are growing in number. They are really seeing God working through their ministries. The church we visited on Sunday is planning a building project soon to accomodate the growth.

I asked them to share what their biggest challenges are as pastors. Their responses mirrored many of the same challenges pastors in the United States have. Even though Chadirac is literally a fourth world country, we have many of the same problems. It is remarkable how much we have in common.

I shared with these church leaders a leadership lesson based on Hebrews 11:23-27. I challenged them to see Moses as a model for being a great leader and to give themselves fully to their ministries. I also gave them some practical steps they could take. They seemed to be very encouraged.

The entire team spent the rest of the day at a local church teaching the children of the community Bible songs and stories. We also had prepared for them a lot of fun games and activities. These kids had so much fun! The laughter, the smiles and love in their eyes will be something I never forget. When we started this particular activity, we began with only about 10 kids. But word spread faster than a Facebook Status Update that something fun was happening in the local church. Within just a few minutes, the number of kids multiplied! The church was literally packed with kids!

Thanks for your prayers…we really are energized by them!

We made it in time for church. There were probably 120 people attending this particular church in the community. And get this: the church service was 3 hours long! Some of you think I preach too long!  At Stones Crossing Church, we use the Connect Card to take attendance. At this church, they call the names on the membership roll. If you are in attendance, you answer “Present.” If you are not, then they mark your absence.  And not only do they take attendance, but they also mark if you were “On time.” Maybe we could begin this practice at Stones!

The worship service was also inspiring. No lights, no air-conditioning, no seat cushions and no band. Everyone sang joyfully and passionately. They know how to worship God and enter His presence with singing. If you could just see their vibrancy, you would then realize, we could learn a lot from them about what corporate worship really is.

When we walked in the church as a group, one of our trip guides, Wendall Robinson, informed me that they were expecting me to preach and this on a moment’s notice. I asked God to give me a message for them in a matter of minutes. God is faithful! My text was Ephesians 3:18-19. I talked about how to experience God’s love every day and was very thankful for such a gifted interpreter, but especially for the presence of the Holy Spirit to build up His people.

We spent the rest of the day doing home visits. As Americans, it is very difficult to grasp the level of poverty here. But the people are so full of  joy. And they are so beautiful. What we learned is that they have the very same problems as us, just in a different context. And we worship a God who is able to handle any problem we take to Him.

Tomorrow, I will lead a pastor’s roundtable discussion. The goal will be to identify their biggest challenges as pastors in their community. This will be the foundation of future mission trips from Stones to Haiti.

Thank you for your prayers. Our team is very encouraged!

We drove to New Life Children’s Home, an orphanage in the city, not far from the airport. Right after dinner, we went to hang out with the kids. When we walked up to them, they came running toward us with open arms and hearts. Most of them barely speak English, but love translates into any language. There are about a 100 kids here with about 15 of those having special needs. These kids literally were abandoned, orphaned through the earthquake or left alone on the brink of death. It is the mission of New Life to care for them, feed them, educate them, but most of all, love and disciple them. This place is simply amazing! What Miriam Frederick has been able to accomplish here through the power of the Holy Spirit is remarkable. I asked her what she did to financially support such an incredible ministry. She said, “Haiti is not a third-world country. It is a fourth-world country and so, we trust God. He gives us what we need, when we need it.”

She is a great example of what our A1:8, Live Your Mission sermon series is all about. She just radiates with the joy of serving Jesus and living the Gospel everyday! By the way, that is my prayer for you.

Tomorrow morning, we are traveling to Chadirac to meet with the community’s Leadership Counsel as well as begin site preparations for the clean water project.

On Monday and Tuesday, I will be meeting with a group of 25 Haitian pastors to hear about their biggest needs and struggles. Pray that God would use me to encourage them to be bold in preaching Christ and His resurrection power. Pray that God would give me wisdom in how Stones Crossing can partner with these churches to further the Gospel in Haiti.

She also kept a spiritual journal. This was one of her last entries before she died:

God, you hold the only peace that can fill the deepest hole. Every week you bless me so much and teach me lesson after lesson. I know that once again you are showing me your love. I cannot fathom how You feel when one of your children suffers, but I have had a glimpse of your heartache. Please fill me with your wisdom that I won’t just watch others suffer, but that I will be able to say what they need to hear. As a new week approaches, my dangerous prayer is that you will place broken hearted people in my path and fill me with you, so that I can let your love heal their pain.

Brittany gets it. I am praying that our church would get it as well.

Can you imagine what would happen if we all prayed Brittany’s prayer every morning?

Everyone received the envelope and the challenge to take whatever amount you were given and grow it, add to it, invest it and use it to make a difference in someone’s life and then share your stewardship story or plan with me.  You can email or snail mail me your story or leave a reply to this post in the box below.

I cannot wait to hear your responses!

Here are a few moments from my life in 2010:

#12 Serving the homeless of Indianapolis with Tear Down the Walls Ministry.

#11 Seeing how God has used my mom’s battle with cancer for good.

#10 Snuggling with Harrison and Ryan at bed time when I tuck them in bed.  There are few things better than being a dad.

#9  Running my first marathon in Nashville, TN.

#8  Camping with Harrison and Ryan in the Great Smokey Mountains.

#7  Being at Disney on New Year’s Eve.  The 360 degree firework show was off the chain!

#6 Seeing Married Life Live launched this year at Stones Crossing Church.

#5 Watching Stones Crossing Church grow 25% in one year.

#4 My 40th Birthday!

#3 Seeing the Alabama Crimson Tide win their 13th National Championship against Texas.

#2 Hearing Harrison pray, “Jesus, please help me, please help me,” when he broke his arm playing football.

#1  Preaching my dad’s funeral.

Now it is your turn.  Share with me one of your best moments of the 2010.

As we were loading up our vehicles to begin the outreach, Harrison asks, “Dad, why do they call the ministry, ‘Tearing Down the Walls’?  I don’t understand what walls have to do with helping the homeless.”  It was a good question.  My wife, Luann, explained to him that invisible walls exist between the homeless and the average person.  She said sometimes those of us who have been blessed with much cannot see the needs of those who have little.

She was spot on.  And little did I know, she was actually describing me.

Our first stop was under an overpass, just a Peyton Manning touchdown pass away from Lucas Oil Stadium, where I met Ron.  He was laying underneath a stack of tarps, covers and blankets.  In the 18 degree weather, we took some time to hear his story, we prayed with him and gave him something to eat.  Judging from the amount of stuff he had collected around his bed, Ron has been living underneath that bridge for a long time.  As many times as I go downtown, I should have noticed that someone was living under that bridge, but I never did.   It was like an invisible wall had kept me from noticing him. But on this night, we tore down that wall.

Our next stop was to visit a man named Mark.  Mark was living in a tent on a wooden platform in the woods overlooking the White River.  Mark was so cold, he just stayed inside the tent and poked his head out the door while laying down in order to talk with us.  I knelt down beside him and asked him to tell us his story.  He told us how he used to be a manager at Radio Shack as well as a radio station DJ.  He explained how he had been disabled by a tragic accident that injured his back severely and that God had used it to “humble him.”  As we listened to Mark, I could not believe how intelligent he was.  I did not think a homeless person could be so smart.  I was wrong.  We tore down another invisible wall.

One of our last stops was across the street from The Spaghetti Factory.  As Harrison and I began serving plates of hot spaghetti, a short line of homeless men quickly formed behind our vehicle.  While we passed out hot chocolate, bottled water, hand warmers to our newest homeless friends, I could not help but notice the plethora of people walking by us on the street that did not even notice what we were doing.  It was as if a wall existed that kept people from seeing how hungry these guys really were.

Truthfully, I was the one who walked downtown and never really noticed people in need.  I never knew a significant number of men are living in camps along the White River.  I never noticed a man named Ron who lived under an overpass so close to where the Colts play.  I had been living behind a wall.  A wall of my own stereotypes and prejudices, a wall of preoccupation with my own plans as well as a wall of busyness that has kept me from seeing the need of people for what it really is and then doing something about it.

All I know is this.  The skyline of Indianapolis has forever changed for me because now, so many walls are down.

There is a story in Luke 17 that powerfully illustrates this principle.  One day Jesus was walking into a village when ten lepers spotted him and cried out, “Jesus, have mercy on us.”  Jesus told them, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”  The lepers go to the priests.  The Bible tells us that as they went, they were healed of their leprosy.  All of them had to be ecstatic that they had just received their lives back.  Now, they could publicly worship at the temple.  They could live with their families. They could get their jobs back.  Their deliverance from leprosy was a game changer for each of them.  But only one out of the ten who were healed came back to Jesus to thank Him.  Just one.

There is a huge lesson here.  Were these guys grateful?  Undoubtedly, they felt very grateful.  They had to be thrilled beyond measure.  They probably did not even bother going to the priest.  They jumped up and down and embraced their kids and hugged their wives and shook hands with their friends.  And they said, “I am healed, I am healed, I am cleansed.”  And if the people asked how is it that you no longer have leprosy, what do you think they said?  They said, “Jesus healed me.  Jesus set me free, the miracle worker, Jesus, the one you have heard about healed us!”  Certainly they spent the rest of their life telling their story.  They were as grateful as they could possible be.  Someone does not give you your life back and you not feel grateful.

Their problem was not that they did not feel grateful.  The problem was that they never returned to express their gratitude. The issue here is unexpressed gratitude always sends the message of ingratitude. None of us consider ourselves ungrateful people because at times, we feel very grateful.  And because we feel grateful, we deceive ourselves into thinking we are grateful people.  But the problem is, unexpressed(not unfelt) gratitude communicates to others ingratitude.  Unexpressed gratitude communicates to other people the very opposite of what we are feeling.  Jesus asked, “Where are the other nine?”   Jesus knew gratitude not expressed feels very much like ingratitude.

Can you think of one person that you need to thank today?  Take a minute and return to the person and express your gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving!